Make a Mommy & Me Journal to Connect With Your Daughter

Every since Ayva started the first grade, it seems like we have a lot less time together. She’s in school an hour longer, plus she has so many different activities filling up her schedule that it can be challenging to find down time for us to connect with each other. We’re always on our way somewhere, or about to do something, and those moments where we can check in are fewer and farther in between than ever. As she gets older, it’s just going to get worse.

Instead of sitting back and letting the lack of time put a wedge between my baby and me, I decided to start a new tradition. Every night, Ayva and I write to each other in a Mommy & Me journal. She has about 30 minutes before lights out when she’s in her bed relaxing and usually reading a book or writing in one of her notebooks. I asked her if she’d be willing to write to me during that time, and with a big grin she agreed!

Instead of just having one journal and sharing it between the two of us, we’re using two. She started one with an entry to me last night and I started one to her. It works out great because we’ll be writing every night to each other. I didn’t have time to decorate the books before we started, so I used butcher paper, washi tape, and stickers to decorate one of the book covers this morning, and Ayva can decorate the other one after school today. I taped instructions on how to use the journal to the inside of the book, and now we’re on our way to getting to know each other better, one journal entry at a time.